Source: The Herald Sun, Saturday, May 9, 1998, p.8 Source: The Herald Sun, Saturday, May 9, 1998, p.8
"It's quite a paradox how completely we change from conception to death". FEEL like your sex life is at an all-time low? Relax, because chances are you will do the deed more than 2500 times in your lifetime. You will also spend six months on the toilet and talk on the phone for the equivalent of 2 1/2 years. You will grow nearly 2m of nasal hair and shed 19kg of dead skin. Even the very youngest have their statistics: by the age of 12 months, the average infant has drooled 145 litres of saliva, and will have crawled 150km. Researchers from around the world have gathered information for a new BBC series which documents the jour- ney of the human body from conception to old age. London's Daily Mail reported that researchers spent two years collecting the statistics for the seven-part series. In one episode, a cam- era appears to fly through the ear drum and travel inside the head to reveal the skull, brain and muscles that make up the face. Viewers can follow sperm on its journey towards the egg to the moment of ovulation. The director of repro- ductive medicine at London's Hammersmith Hospital, Professor Robert Winston, said: "Basically, it is the story of the human body. It's a story of fantastic changes, written by millions of years of evolution and told afresh by each of us in our lifetime. "It's quite a paradox how completely we change from conception to death but in terms of our physiology we have changed so little in the last 100,000 years." Series producer Richard Dale said hundreds of institutes and experts around the world had offered material for the program. "It was a nightmarish task because there was so much material involved, " he said. "(The researchers) approached relevant institutes and individuals with particular expertise all over the world." The series begins with the birth of a baby. Prof. Winston introduces the tiny infant as "a bit of fat, a bit of protein-actually, she's 75 per cent water". "She's really just a collection of chemicals," he says. "Yet she is the most complicated thing on earth and during her lifetime she will achieve the most amazing things."
Where to next?
Student Questions for this article
Teacher Discussion of this article
Index - Data Reduction